The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 143

Chapter 143. The Prophet and the Guardian (1)

‘Mutant monsters.’

I recalled the information Kayden shared with me before.

“You mean the mutant monsters the Holy Kingdom released?”

[You do remember.]

“My memory isn’t that bad.”

I was the one who told him the Holy Kingdom had released mutant monsters in the first place.

Of course I wouldn’t forget, you little brat.

[Then do you also remember that I said I’d investigate the Holy Kingdom?]

“Yes, I remember.”

Could he have found something already?

I raised an eyebrow.

“Have you uncovered something?”

[A few things.]

Kayden folded his arms and leaned back in his chair.

[A letter arrived from the Empire of Ventrume recently.]

Why was he suddenly bringing up the Empire?

[It said the number of mutant monsters in the mountain range stretching between the Holy Kingdom and the Empire was rising rapidly, and proposed a joint campaign to exterminate them.]

“A joint operation to exterminate the monsters?”

[Essentially. It’s true that their numbers are becoming too much for a single nation’s military to handle.]

Recently, monster numbers were surging across the continent.

Sightings were more frequent than usual, and the imperial knights were setting out on monster extermination campaigns more and more often.

This created the serious problem of weakened security within the imperial palace and along the Empire’s borders, but it couldn’t be helped.

To protect the people’s lives and property, they had to defeat the monsters attacking their homes.

[But there’s something else that matters more right now.]

An unusual gleam entered Kayden’s golden eyes.

[It seems the Emperor intends to put the princes at the forefront of this joint operation.]

“…What?”

My mouth fell open at Kayden’s words.

I found myself wondering whether the Emperor was in his right mind.

‘Lloyd is one thing, but Adrian is sickly, and Edwin hasn’t even had his coming-of-age ceremony yet.’

More to the point, all three princes were children under twenty.

He was going to send those wet-behind-the-ears brats somewhere so dangerous?

‘And they’re imperial princes, at that.’

They’d been raised in greater luxury than anyone else from the moment they were born.

Besides, one of them would succeed their father as ruler of the Empire.

They hadn’t even decided which one yet.

‘And he wants to send them onto a battlefield where they could die.’

All three of them?

I couldn’t begin to understand that decision.

[This is only my conjecture, of course.]

Then Kayden continued in a serious voice.

[It seems Cavelius III intends to name whichever prince distinguishes himself most in the monster extermination campaign as Crown Prince.]

***

“Is that really true?”

Catherine shot to her feet the moment she heard what I said.

Her face drained of color as she repeated my words back to me.

“His Majesty the Emperor said he’d send Their Highnesses to fight the monsters?”

“Nothing’s been finalized yet. I’ve only heard that it’s been discussed.”

“Good heavens.”

Catherine pressed a hand to her forehead and slumped back into her seat.

The force of it sent Sage, who was sitting beside her, halfway out of his seat before he dropped back down.

“Good grief. As cold-blooded as ever.”

Unlike the terrified Catherine, Sage was perfectly composed, as though he’d expected this.

“To think he’d test his own flesh and blood that way. Truly remarkable. Remarkable.”

As if he hadn’t also pushed Edwin into danger under the pretext of testing him.

I glanced at Sage before speaking.

“In any case, this could happen without warning, so I think we should prepare in advance.”

“But how are we supposed to prepare so suddenly….”

Catherine gnawed on her lower lip.

She didn’t seem to have the faintest idea where to begin.

It was the sage, or rather, the gardener Sage, who offered a suggestion in the bewildered head maid’s place.

“First, we’ll need to get some troops ready.”

“What?”

Catherine’s eyes widened at Sage’s words.

“W-what do you mean? No one in the imperial palace except His Majesty the Emperor is allowed to have troops! Even for a prince, maintaining a private army is treason….”

“Oh, who said anything about a private army? I mean we need people on our side who’ll follow only Prince Edwin during the campaign.”

Sage looked at Catherine as though she were hopeless.

“The other princes will do the same, won’t they? The First Prince’s maternal uncle commands the Gloria Knights, so he’ll naturally have their protection. And the Second Prince will have the knights of House Radcliffe and the nobles who support him.”

The imperial family wouldn’t be the only ones participating in a large-scale extermination campaign.

The nobles who followed them and all the troops under those nobles’ command would also have to join the fighting.

‘No matter how capable someone is, they can’t go onto a battlefield alone.’

In the end, what we needed most was a loyal force skilled in combat.

“The gardener is right. Before the campaign begins, we must gather as much support for Prince Edwin as possible.”

“There are neutral nobles who haven’t chosen either side yet. Why don’t we try persuading them?”

“It won’t be easy, but we’ll have to try.”

The fact that they still hadn’t taken a side meant they had strong convictions and were stubborn enough to stand by them.

I looked at Catherine, who sat in uneasy silence.

“Catherine.”

“Y-yes?”

“Could you draw up a list of the neutral nobles?”

“What? Oh, w-well, that wouldn’t be difficult, but….”

“Then please do so right away.”

“R-right now?”

“Yes.”

Under my steady gaze, Catherine hurried to her feet.

“O-of course!”

The moment Catherine left the room, I turned straight to Sage.

“Could you introduce me to a trustworthy mage?”

Sage frowned at my sudden request.“A mage? Why a mage all of a sudden?”

“To strengthen our forces.”

“Ah, well, those fellows are certainly well suited to exterminating monsters.”

Sage pulled a face and scratched his forehead vigorously. “But the mages I know are old, and most of them have already left this world. What about you, Kyl… I mean, Lady Brown? Don’t you know any mages?”

“If I did, I wouldn’t have asked….”

Wait.

I frowned.

‘There is one mage I know.’

An acquaintance from long ago suddenly came to mind.

‘…Perhaps I should try looking for him, just in case.’

It was such an unsettling, ominous connection that I never wanted to cross paths with him again.

He was a different sort of person from Sage or Somnia.

‘No, can he even be called a person?’

Remembering my past entanglement with him brought on a sudden headache.

During my time in the assassin guild, I faced death more than dozens of times.

And over half of those close calls were because of him.

“Lady Brown? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just a brief migraine.”

I brushed it off, avoiding Sage’s curious gaze.

‘Let’s set him aside for now.’

From now on, I’d only turn to connections from my past when I had absolutely no other choice.

With that resolve, I pushed the memories of him out of my mind.

“By the way.”

Sage suddenly asked me a question out of the blue.

“Are you serious about going through with this?”

“With what?”

“Well….”

Sage seemed to think for a moment, then bluntly asked, “Do you really believe Edwin can become emperor?”

“…It’s not a matter of belief.”

Believing was what the priests and worshippers of the Holy Kingdom of Rion did.

I rose silently from my seat.

“I’ll make it happen.”

***

The sewing room in the Second Consort’s palace was bustling as usual.

The mistress of the palace was so particular about fashion that the seamstress maids couldn’t put down their needles for a single day.

Today, too, they were hard at work on the dress the Second Consort would wear to a banquet in a few days.

Beneath the hands of several maids, golden flowering vines gradually took shape on the sumptuous red silk.

“My, you’re truly skilled!”

“You’re the new girl, aren’t you?”

But one among them possessed particularly striking skill.

It was the new seamstress maid.

“Goodness, it looks like a real flowering vine.”

“How does it look so lifelike?”

A small stir arose among the maids, who were usually too busy with their own work.

The new seamstress maid was not only quick with her hands but also had an excellent eye for embroidery.

Thanks to her, the other maids’ workloads were gradually shrinking.

“Yes, I used to work in the Emperor’s palace.”

The maid smiled shyly at their praise.

“Oh, I knew it. Maids from the Emperor’s palace really are a cut above.”

“Still, to think His Majesty would send one of his own people. He must cherish Her Highness the Second Consort, even if he doesn’t show it.”

“Exactly. He’s famous for never sending his own attendants elsewhere.”

For the first time in a while, the maids let loose with their chatter.

From the Second Consort to the Emperor, the Empress, and even the princes.

Every sort of scandal and rumor in the imperial palace spilled from their lips.

“Oh, really?”

The new seamstress maid listened attentively, seemingly fascinated by their stories.

A translucent gleam hovered in her eyes, clear as glass marbles, as though they weren’t human at all, but no one noticed.

“There’s something I’d like to ask.”

The new seamstress maid cautiously raised a hand and joined their conversation.

“What does Her Highness the Second Consort like most?”